Disney or ?: Still on the fence

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thank you to everyone for all the great insight!

 

I feel like I'm starting to understand better the trade offs that we might be able to consider for our first Alaska family cruise. I think we're leaning more toward a non-Disney trip at the moment... perhaps even a one-way (although the VC roundtrip on HAL includes Glacier Bay). A couple thoughts/questions:

 

1. I think we have also decided that a Denali cruisetour with the transits will not be right with our kids and time available, although the Seward Highway drive on our own would be enjoyable. However, Seward seems to be served by only a few of cruiselines, right? So we'd need to figure out how to get from Seward to Whittier if we do Princess. Anyone tried this?

 

2. The one thing that seems to be missing from the responses is someone saying "We chose to do Disney for Alaska, and loved it." Not sure if this means something, or if these folks just hang out exclusively on the Disney board. It just seems there are more strong opinions to NOT do Disney than the other way around.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

That may have a lot to do with who posts on CC. It is an older --more experienced demographic. They are not the prime Disney cruisers.

 

Before we decided to go to AK we asked people on ships we cruised on how they liked their AK cruises. We got responses from all the cruise lines including Disney. There was not one single negative response. [that is pretty unusual] I do not think you will have a bad time whatever you choose--you just need to maximize everyones enjoyment by picking the best option for you.

 

PS--We cruised out of Seward aboard the Radiance of the Seas. Yes--Celebrity and Royal Caribbean use Seward. HAL, Princess, etc use Whittier. However, we found the most scenic views of the trip between Anchorage and Seward were between Anchorage and the Whittier turn off.

 

It would be great if you could do a one way and spend some time in AK on land. A train ride between Seward or Whittier and Anchorage would be a nice trip. [i do not think it would be so good that I would pick a one-way for that reason alone--due to higher airfare.-JMHO]

[Budget Queen]

 

PS--We cruised out of Seward aboard the Radiance of the Seas. Yes--Celebrity and Royal Caribbean use Seward. HAL, Princess, etc use Whittier. However, we found the most scenic views of the trip between Anchorage and Seward were between Anchorage and the Whittier turn off.

 

]

 

Holland America has always been out of Seward not Whittier.

 

Next year, NCL and Princess will be out of Whittier.

[Budget Queen]

Thank you to everyone for all the great insight!

 

I feel like I'm starting to understand better the trade offs that we might be able to consider for our first Alaska family cruise. I think we're leaning more toward a non-Disney trip at the moment... perhaps even a one-way (although the VC roundtrip on HAL includes Glacier Bay). A couple thoughts/questions:

 

1. I think we have also decided that a Denali cruisetour with the transits will not be right with our kids and time available, although the Seward Highway drive on our own would be enjoyable. However, Seward seems to be served by only a few of cruiselines, right? So we'd need to figure out how to get from Seward to Whittier if we do Princess. Anyone tried this?

 

2. The one thing that seems to be missing from the responses is someone saying "We chose to do Disney for Alaska, and loved it." Not sure if this means something, or if these folks just hang out exclusively on the Disney board. It just seems there are more strong opinions to NOT do Disney than the other way around.

 

Thanks again.

 

Disney is new to the Alaska market, so that alone would explain the fewer first hand reports. They only have one ship and one route, another limiting factor on trip reports. All the other lines have multiple ships and routes. You would get the most- if you went to the trip review page under the specific ship.

 

I took my 2 nephews to Alaska this year. Two cruises worked out the best for mother's approval :) (Alaska wilderness was too much to comprehend for my sister :) ) To give them a better experience, I took Princess to Whittier and HAL out of Seward. This allowed me my priority of both the Prince William Sound boat tour and Kenai Fjord boat tour. I used a taxi vendor who has been doing the transfers for years. This transfer has very limited options, unless you back track to Anchorage. I took them home, then returned to Anchorage and after another week took the Alaska RR to Seward to board RCI.

 

Disney has been more costly than the other Alaska cruises. But the ships aren't "empty" and I'm sure everyone has a great time with them in Alaska.

 

Keep reading and fine tuning your preferences. Don't jump into a booking until you are clear on the decision that is best for your group.

[1025cruise]

As was previously discussed, for Alaska you pick your itinerary, then you pick the ship.

I did the Star Princess this past year. I picked it for a few reasons:

1. I was constrained to 7 days.

2. Due to the constraint, I wanted a round trip from Seattle. I've been to Anchorage before, I didn't want to have the extra travel time for the flight.

3. By that point, I had three choices, the Star Princess, the Oosterdam, and a Norwegian ship. Of the three, I preferred the Princess ship. From an itinerary standpoint, they were all similar. The Princess ship had time going up the fjord (not the one we were supposed to, it was too early, but the Captain decided to go to another glacier). While it might not be Glacier Bay, it was good enough for me. It was an enjoyable morning of scenic cruising. Also, doesn't hurt that I am a Gold Princess Circle member. I had a FCC to use.

 

One thing I will say about the demographics, since we went early in the season, there weren't that many families, and there were a lot of first time Princess cruisers.

 

Anyways, pick the itinerary that works best for your family. The ship really is secondary.

[astro2001]

Can anyone characterize the demagraphics of HAL vs. NCL vs. Princess? I'm pretty familiar with what Disney is like, and I wasn't paying must attention to it while honeymooning on Princess!

[Budget Queen]

Can anyone characterize the demagraphics of HAL vs. NCL vs. Princess? I'm pretty familiar with what Disney is like, and I wasn't paying must attention to it while honeymooning on Princess!

 

Many people think the demographics of the Caribbean of cruiselines they have sailed apply to Alaska. No they don't. I will highly speculate there are fewer kids on Disney sailing Alaska and the demographics are skewed to more adults.

 

On the other major lines the bulk of the passengers are middle aged and above on ALL the other lines. All ages sail on ALL of them, so I will dispute those "Hal "old people" cruises" myth, and the like. I personally went on three different lines IN Alaska this year. Demographics were similar. There aren't any party ships yet sailing Alaska. :)

 

You last point says it all- :) who cares who else is sailing? I certainly don't. I get what I want out of my trips with no issue what so ever. It's all about where and for how long the cruise takes me. Then I make my own plans for my prioriies.

[alaska_planner]

Many people think the demographics of the Caribbean of cruiselines they have sailed apply to Alaska. No they don't. I will highly speculate there are fewer kids on Disney sailing Alaska and the demographics are skewed to more adults.

 

On the other major lines the bulk of the passengers are middle aged and above on ALL the other lines. All ages sail on ALL of them, so I will dispute those "Hal "old people" cruises" myth, and the like. I personally went on three different lines IN Alaska this year. Demographics were similar. There aren't any party ships yet sailing Alaska. :)

 

You last point says it all- :) who cares who else is sailing? I certainly don't. I get what I want out of my trips with no issue what so ever. It's all about where and for how long the cruise takes me. Then I make my own plans for my prioriies.

 

Your disney speculation is incorrect - the demographics are not skewed to adult in alaska.

Because their alaska cruise is so geared to kids, there are many many many kids on board as is typical for disney.

 

The disney cruises where you'll find fewer kids are panama canal and transatlantic crsossings (which some adult disney cruise lovers choose specifically for kid avoidance - but that is not the case in alaska).